Jones also asked players not to slide on the cricket field as it can cause injuries.

Former England bowler Simon Jones has said that he cringes every time he watches someone slide on the cricket field as it is really dangerous.

‘I first smashed my knee badly at the Gabba (Brisbane) in 2002. Getting your knee locked while trying to slide is the worst injury. It cost me 18 months of my career. They (groundsmen) were not able to dry the field after rain and put a lot of sand on it. That was carnage. Ricky Ponting had told his team, but no one told us,”, Jones was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

Jones, who was a hero in the famous Ashes 2005 victory, said that he believed players shouldn’t put their bodies on the line excessively as it can be really painful to lose one’s career due to injury. “I cringe when I see people slide. I know how dangerous it is, and how painful it was for me. To lose a career due to injury would be very sad. Don’t put your bodies on the line so much.”, he added.

“During the India tour of 2006, I did my knee in. I landed in a foot hole and tore the cartilage in a warm-up game. Sometimes you feel you are going to lose your sanity. You are doing everything right, everything you can to get back on the field and then something else happens. It is a cruel world, it really is.”, the former bowler recalled.

The former England bowler had words of advice for Cheteshwar Pujara too, who had torn his knee ligaments in the 2011 IPL. “He’s lucky he is a batsman. My knee is still sore but I look after it using my ice machine. Maybe he should use that. Basically it flushes any inflammation in the joint and you recover quicker. I’ll ice my knee in the morning and at night. It takes 20 minutes.”

First Published on July 30, 2014 11:03 AM ISTLast updated on July 30, 2014 11:03 AM IST